The aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind may make a cameo appearance in the fourth Indiana Jones movie. Steven Spielberg is avoiding CGI in favor of puppets, and he decided to pay tribute to the 30th anniversary of Encounters. There's retro, and then there's crazy retro. [MovieHole]

The Hollywood writers' strike could be settled by Christmas, says Nikki Finke, a blogger who claims to have inside sources. That could allow stalled TV shows to get back on track, and let movies do some desperately needed rewrites. [Deadline Hollywood]

Chuck
spoilers and news about J.J. Abrams' new mad-scientist show after the jump.

One Journeyman producer already landed a new gig, after the show's apparent cancellation. Alex Graves will direct the pilot for Fringe, the new J.J. Abrams X-files clone, as soon as he's done with Journeyman in December.

Chuck spoilers: in an upcoming episode, Chuck finally gets his cover blown. He has to leave town and live under permanent security. Anything to get rid of those horrid short-sleeved nerd shirts. [E!Online]

Star Trek IV and Soylent Green both appear in Environmental Graffiti's list of the top five environmental films of all time. [via SFSignal]

Tom Cruise could star in a Doctor Who TV movie in 2009, say unnamed (and probably completely bogus) sources at the BBC. Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Madonna are also being approached, the source says. [Stuff]